The Best Feud, the Best Trash Talk, and the 13 Other NBA Awards That Matter

The regular season is over, and soon the playoffs will make all of it a distant memory. But while everyone argues whether Steph Curry or James Harden was the MVP, or whether Andrew Wiggins or Andrew Wiggins was the rookie of the year, let’s not forget all the random / hilarious / strange / crazy / fantastic stuff that along with way. In other words, let’s give out awards for the stuff no one debated but all of us should remember.

Best Anonymous Feud: Trevor Booker vs. Enes Kanter

After demanding a trade and getting his wish at the deadline, Enes Kanter returned to Utah as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder and went to work ripping the organization with which he spent three plus years. Kanter had a nice game—18 points, 11 rebounds—but the Jazz won 94-89, and so after the game, Kanter’s former teammate Trevor Booker had the last word: "He got his stats and he got the L as always."

And then, on Wednesday night, after the Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs, Booker took one more parting shot:

Wouldn’t go to war with any other guys! Helluva season Jazz Nation!!! And oh yeah, glad we didn’t lose to a non playoff team @Enes_Kanter

Carlisle has a point. Rondo finished the season shooting 39.7 percent from the free throw line.

Best Quotes Of the Season:

"Shit."

—Russell Westbrook on how he felt about winning the scoring title, after his team fell short of making the playoffs.

"I figured if LeBron can go home then, shit, why can’t I?"

—Kevin Garnett at (re) introductory press conference in Minnesota.

"The NBA has become like the high-tech business. Just because you invented the iPhone, doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels, because somebody else is building a better iPhone. Just because you win 50 games, doesn’t mean you can be satisfied with the status quo."

—Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive said after firing head coach Mike Malone in December. The Kings would go through three coaches during the season and finish 29-53; the franchise hasn’t won 50 games in a season since 2004-05.

"When you’re out at 4 in the morning, there’s no way you should be walking anywhere. Get in your car and go home or go wherever you’re going. That’s one of my cardinal rules. You don’t just stand outside of the events like that. You just get in and go and keep it moving."

—J.R. Smith, the voice of reason, author of the future New York Times bestseller The 48 Laws of 1Oak, after Indiana Pacers forward Chris Copeland was stabbed at a New York nightclub.

"Oh damn, it’s like Uber for food."

—Dwyane Wade learning about Seamless in the locker room.

"I’ve just definitely got to get these young guys’ heads into it where they stay positive, keep playing hard, just look for wins and learn how to win."

—JaVale McGee, on mentoring the young 76ers. He was waived shortly after.

Justin Bieber showed his support for Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors. But the problem was, he forgot to use the hashtag #NBABallot, so none of the 57,795 retweets counted towards All-Star voting. Thankfully, it didn’t matter, as Lowry made the starting lineup for the All-Star team anyways.

In March, Canadian Andrew Wiggins played his first game in Toronto, the prime minister of Canada attended his first NBA game, and poor Anthony Bennett (who is also Canadian), he was mislabelled in a tweet by Harper.

Best Black History Month Blunder By An NBA Owner, 2014-2015 Edition: Ted Leonsis

Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis posted the above on Facebook, comparing himself to Martin Luther King Jr. The team issued a statement later admitting that they may have missed the mark. We forgive you, Ted. It’s not as bad as Donald Sterling celebrating Black History Month in March.

Dion Waiters spent all seasonbeggingfor the ball even though, at various times, he played with LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It was extremely entertaining, but it might have finally jumped the shark when he did it on March 20, in the closing seconds of a blowout win. I hope he never changes: